In nature, there are many records associated with trees. For example, in the Redwood National Park (USA, California), the tallest tree on the planet grows - 114-meter sequoia. The thickest tree on earth is Mexican cypress, which grows in the city of Santa Maria (Mexico, Oaxaca). The diameter of its trunk is 42 meters! And in the west of Sweden, an ancient spruce grows, whose age has exceeded 9,500 years.
What is the smallest tree in the world? A photo, name and description of this plant are in the article.
Amazing plant
Dwarf willow (scientifically Salix Herbacea) - this is the smallest tree in the world. On average, its height is only two centimeters. But "giant" dwarf willows were found as high as seven centimeters!
Outwardly, the trees look more like grass - on a thin, but elastic stem, several shiny green leaves of a rounded shape firmly hold on. Their diameter is one to two centimeters. Like all members of the willow family, Salix Herbacea has male and female earrings, with male yellow and red female.
In dwarf willow, the superficial root system multiplies in the active soil layer.
Where is growing. Role in nature
The smallest tree in the world, the photo of which is in the article, grows in Greenland, Canada, on the northern slopes of the Appalachian mountains at an altitude of one and a half thousand meters above sea level. These are quite harsh regions, so a tiny plant hides in moss, rocks, soil, hiding from the strongest winds and cold. The trees grow very close to each other, cuddling the trunks and thus retaining heat.
Often, near Salix Herbacea, you will find polar, arctic and Magadan willows, which quite a bit overtook them in growth.
The smallest tree in the world plays a very important role in nature. In cold latitudes it is a food for many inhabitants of the north - insects, birds, deer. Its reserves practically do not run out, as the dwarf willow has the ability to perfectly and quickly recover from damage. Also in the "thickets" of this plant insects take shelter from the weather, and birds use the stems and leaves to build nests.
The Japanese learned to grow the smallest tree in the world
In Japan, experts grow bonsai in flower pots. This is a complex technology that requires painstaking work, time and patience. Strictly speaking, a miniature creature is not the smallest tree in the world, since it is grown from layering of ordinary maples, beech, pine, spruce and other species. In this case, special technologies of crown formation and root cutting, a hungry diet (depleted soil), limited watering and a tight container are used. In addition, the master throughout the life of the miniature tree should trim old branches, pinch new branches, remove unnecessary shoots and buds so that the plant does not waste nutrients on them. This technique is called bonsai.
In such harsh conditions, the plant literally survives, so keeping a miniature tree is a real art. In Japan, bonsai craftsmen are valued on par with eminent artists and architects.